That's not to say they're useless. They are critical for movement building. But to pretend that these mass protests change anything in and of themselves is foolish. It has to be combined with institutional power.
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Maybe expecting change from the top is a dream, but experiencing change in person and en masse is essential! From https://timothysnyder.org/on-tyranny:
“Concerning nonviolence, it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.” - Malcolm X
"Violence is not the monopoly of the exploiters and as such the exploited can use it too and, moreover, ought to use it when the moment arrives." - Che Guevara
I hate to be the one to blame biden but dems absolutely ignored us and most americans while they desperately tried to maintain decorum and win elections in the suburbs.
Nobody wants to vote for someone thatll turn their back on their own constituents
Yeah, the J6’ers literally broke into the Capitol, threatening to kill or kidnap the current VP, the incoming VP, and other members of Congress and they were rewarded—eventually—with control of the entire gov’t.
Very few ppl with any sort of following are willing to say what you said—I say it lol but I just started & don’t have an audience. But I do have a lot of experience working w/ organizers nationwide. I’d argue grassroots Integrated Voter Engagement is a better strategy than protest mobilizations
Sigh. It doesn't mean you should stop fighting. I know people are tired, fighting is harder than doing nothing. But the alternative isn't better, is it? Sending love and hope from Canada.
Wild how the people that are obsessed with “protecting student athletes” from like 50 trans athlete kids nationwide… stay silent while thousands of students get shot & injured in schools by assault weapons.
If protection is the priority—why arent we protecting them from…you know…the bullets? 🤷🏻♂️
This is like complaining in Stalingrad, or in Valley Forge, that the war is not yet won. That we didn’t win yet is not a reason to withdraw from the fight; to the contrary, it’s precisely why we must keep on fighting.
What we are fighting are the oligarchs who have unlimited power helped by the Citizens United decision. But equally as important is if the Electoral College did vote for Hillary Clinton we wouldn’t be here talking about this.
No, definitely not. This is the exact time to point out that just marching is not going to be enough. While people are still feeling the high and feeling motivated to organize.
It lets me know there are a lot of you feeling vulnerable and worried and forces me to consider whether I want that for a subset of the citizenry. (No. No.)
And then what did it go on to say? I was addressing the obvious despair and frustration in the first three top level posts in the thread, gently, empathetically, and respectfully, and here you are doing what, exactly?
It always has to start with this, a show of comradery and unified will after a period of strife. It is what gives people the strength to pursue other forms of action. If you have any bright ideas about what those actions might be, you are free to provide input.
They create powerful feelings for the people who are about to join movements, to show them they’re not alone. They’re not crazy. Something really wrong *is* going on here.
Aaaaaand, you collapsed your own argument at the end, as usual. You're almost there! If you just shifted your analysis harder to the left, you might find the institutions built on colonialism & reinforced w slavery & death need to be left to rot while we smash the state...
The end deflated me too. Our liberation will not come until this entire oppression machine is eradicated. Until that day comes, the best that this ”institutional power” can hope to do is mitigate the institutional violence it does to us while waiting for the next round of fascism to take hold.
I think the way to mitigate fascist violence--state-inflicted or not--is to stop it ourselves. The institutions have shown them to be full of cowards, collaborators, and enablers. Better to not get betrayed & develop serious counter-power in the streets.
Another benefit they provide is that they let people who are not used to physically showing up get accustomed to being in the street. I can't speak for everyone but in my own case, showing up to protests because my friends did snowballed into getting involved in a variety of ways.
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"Violence is not the monopoly of the exploiters and as such the exploited can use it too and, moreover, ought to use it when the moment arrives." - Che Guevara
You dig?
Stonewall wouldn't have fucking mattered if bricks weren't being thrown at cops.
Nobody wants to vote for someone thatll turn their back on their own constituents
If protection is the priority—why arent we protecting them from…you know…the bullets? 🤷🏻♂️
It lets them know they're not alone.
It lets me know there are a lot of you feeling vulnerable and worried and forces me to consider whether I want that for a subset of the citizenry. (No. No.)
It's not useless.
We keep us safe really does start with your neighbors, your neighborhood.